A Saatchi Exclusive Original

"Maryam Ahmad Art" humbly presents this new and rare piece! Once this one's gone, its gone! One lucky buyer will own this amazing one of a kind piece of artwork which will bring joy and wonder to him or her, and countless others he/she knows, for a lifetime and beyond!

Click the photo below to buy it now before it's too late!

Saving Money on Art Supplies

Today I'd like to share my experience with buying art supplies.

You can end up spending a lot of money on paint brushes, canvas's and paints.

My main source of supplies is Michaels. I don't know if other artists buy canvas's elsewhere but I'd definitely like to hear from you and learn about other sources for both paints an canvas's.

I discovered that every few months Michaels has a buy 1 get one free sale on canvas's. There's no way of knowing when this sale will take place but I've happened to come across it a couple of times when I've been visiting the store. Its definitely something to keep an eye out for.

The other very useful thing is the use of coupons! There is an iphone app called "Snip Snap". I'm fairly confident that you could get this app on android as well. Search for Michaels coupons here and you should come across a variety of coupons - 40% off 1 item, 20% off entire purchase, etc. Some of these can only be used on regularly priced items and not on sale items but still these coupons are great for purchasing paints or paintbrushes which as you know can be expensive; specially good paintbrushes. The cheap ones have weak bristles which break off and stick to your canvas so I have discovered that its beneficial to invest in good paintbrushes.

If you have other good sources for art materials, and other good ways to save money please do share with me in the comments section below.

My Studio

My studio, or rather the spare bedroom is my creative playground. I paint in our guest room with tarp on the floor and an easel that my husband insisted I buy. Usually I just paint on a flat surface and don't use the easel much. Most of my painting is done on weekends when I tend to shut myself in that room and spend hours in there. Time really flies by and I don't stop until my husband comes in to find me. Some days are slow where I don't get much done at all, while others are very productive. It just depends on where I've been the last few days, what I've seen or done. The more time I spend outdoors with family and friends, the more inspired I get. How important is your studio? What effect does it have on your work?

This blog captures my life through art. I hope it inspires you to capture a small piece of your life.

New Beginnings

Here’s the whole story in all its glory.

I created my first painting the summer of 2012.

No one in my family was really interested in art except my father. So of course, I took a picture and sent it to him immediately for critique. I started off painting the canvas red, it was a small 9” by 11” canvas because I figured I should start small.

The red stayed on the canvas for a week because my mind was blank, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do next. Then, I happened to go visit the MET museum in NYC and came back very, very inspired! Suddenly I had all these ideas but not enough time to capture them on canvas.

I wanted viewers to think about what they were seeing, and come up with their own meaning from it. Strangely, until I finished the painting and took a picture of it, I hadn't noticed how some places the white has merged with the red and become a shade of pink almost.

Normally, I think I’d probably tweak something like that, since it could be distracting. But surprisingly, I really liked that in the painting. After completing it, I also sent a picture to my baby brother who suddenly has a love for art. He immediately wanted me to send it to him as a gift ASAP. So this one’s not for sale but then I created a bigger version of it and that is for sale on saatchi.com.

Here’s a picture of that very first painting. I’d like to hear what you think of it.